Gregor and the Land of Laun
by She Who Twirls Flags
Summary: Two years after returning to the Overland, Gregor, who speaks to few outside his family, must return to the Underland with fellow Overlander Lacey, after recieving a message: Find the Natives soon, or find them dead. READ the Author's Note PLEASE!
1. Author's Note PLEASE READ

**A Quick Note From the Author-**

Hello there, Underland Chronicles Fanfiction page. It's me, TaylortheOverlander (Also known as Wafflesrocmyboxers, SuzanneFann, and now She Who Twirls Flags) It's been a long time. We've both found new loves, with my role-playing, original fictions, and colorguard, and your wonderful new authors, but I think we've both really grown... Oh! Haithere reader! I didn't mean for you to read my confession to the TUC Fanfiction page. Older members who were here during my reign of terror (I call it such because my fanfiction was such a terror; it was horrid) may remember a crappy little fic that just wouldn't go away, called Gregor and the Gliders, the sequel, which was never finished, was called Gregor and the Traitor's Daughter. It involved out of character canons, Mary-Sue's out the wazoo, and **WAY** too many Overlanders. That was about three or four years ago. I always promised myself and my hardcore newbie gang (Chris, Allie, Alyssa, and Nike) to go back and rewrite it. I never got around to it until around a year ago, when I found my old Underland Chronicles books. I just had this urge to write it over.

I didn't take off and just start writing like I did with the original. I knew I had improved in that year or so, and I had better writing techniques. So I started planning. I wrote out my ideas, scrapped most of them, and I settled on one thing: I wanted Gregor to go back to the Underland. It was something I had decided when I started writing my crap right after I discovered fanfiction and read the last book. Secondly, I wanted it to be better written and I wanted the characters to be in character. And finally, I wanted the Land of Laun to be the subject of the plot. It was the original, main plot for my story. So I started. I wrote out a whole outline, improved that, and rewrote and rewrote outlines until I liked it. And then I started writing. Right now, I believe it's vastly better than the immature fifth grade creation it was born from, written by a girl with a need to satisfy everyone else, a girl who took too much input from her nerdy neighbor and literature oblivious friends.

Please, just because it's written by the same nobody from nowheresville (who butchered the Hell out of TUC with her fics) and the fact that it has a similar title disway you from reading this. It's still crappy and still needs to be rewritten, but it's better... it's getting there. Aside from the fact that it is an insanely different story with a very different feel to it, here are some of the changes.

**Changes:**

**-Majority of Overlanders Omitted  
><strong>Mia, Ash, Taylor, Hunter, Aaron, and Tyler are gone. I originally didn't plan on any of them, but just a schoolyard enemy of Gregor's who followed him to the Underland and was going to be manipulated into fighting for a gnawer uprising. The others were added in there when I let a few of my friends hijack my writing. They're gone now.

**-The OOCness and EXTREME FLUFFINESS  
><strong>Luxa will actually be the stubborn, rebellious queen she is, rather than a character I shove off to the side until it's time for fluffiness. The story doesn't suffer from EFD (Extreme Fluffiness Disorder) anymore and all will not be well in the world of relationships. This is [should] be a more developed plot where characters are actually behaving like themselves, and hopefully you won't be feeling in the dark halfway through the story, trying to hunt down the plot.

**-No More Gliders  
><strong>Where did the Gliders go? I don't know... (Yes I do) I omitted them, of course. They didn't have a place in the story anymore and I wanted to return to the original idea of the secondary land for Regalians, should anything happen to their city.

**-The Land of Laun  
><strong>This is now the central plot of the story, so I don't want to reveal too much. Just know that there is still a prophecy about it (no longer written by Nerissa) and the journey to find it.

**-Others  
><strong>Natives will have a larger roll  
>Wolves are gone<br>Other races included, but have lesser roles  
><strong>One<strong> Overlander OC  
>A few Underlander OCs<br>And an insane amount of other changes

**A Quick Thanks To...**

**Ari from TUC Forums**, for helping me with my writing and never losing your patience with me and always explaining things to me  
><strong>Saph from the TUC Forums<strong>, for not coming to her senses and banning me from the TUC forums and giving me encouragement to improve  
><strong>Aya from TUC Forums<strong>, for giving advice  
><strong>Dem from TUC Forums<strong>, for helping me and showing me what an insanely ignorant person I was  
><strong>Chris, Alyssa and Nike<strong>, for being my hardcore newbs and loving my crap to death  
><strong>Everyone else from the TUC forums and FFN<br>And Allie, FOR BEING MY AWESOME BETA!**

Now, continue on the Chapter 1...


	2. Part 1, The Diplomat Chapter 1

**A quick note. This is very different from the original. I know that. Hopefully you should know that. I don't want fifty-seven responses saying that this is nothing like the original. Conversely, I don't want fifty-seven responses saying how this is too familiar and that you think I'm stealing. Please read the AN! I am TaylortheOverlander, Wafflesrocmyboxers, and SuzanneFann. I can prove it, if you want. Thank you.**

**AND! **Thank you to my dearest Allie, aka sombrita for signing your death certificate and agreeing to be my beta. I hope you know how many times you'll be forced to comfort me while I cry about how much I suck.

**Part 1: The Diplomat**

**Chapter 1**

Gregor sighed, unable to concentrate on the blank piece of paper before him. Well, not completely blank, but it may as well have been, as he was trying to make sense of the jumbles of ink that just wouldn't form into intelligible letters for him. His mind was somewhere else, anywhere else. His thoughts were on his sisters, on his parents, even on the tiny little ant crawling across the page. He badly wanted to squish it, but settled for flicking it off the page and trying to concentrate again. _What does your analysis of the book… _Gregor gave up again. All he could think of was how much it didn't matter.

Suddenly, a parade of tiny little feet came running up to his door. Gregor looked to the doorway, finding his five year old sister, Margaret (although she still went by Boots). She had a goofy grin and her dark curls. She held out one of her dirty hands, covered in some goopy spaghetti sauce. Gregor couldn't help but smile at her, at her innocence. Even after a year exposed to violence and hatred her innocence had not faltered. She glanced down the hall and started running away, giggling. Gregor's other younger sister, Lizzie, ran after her, laughing. He was envious for their freedom, their happiness. But if they were happy, he was happy.

Not capable of concentration at all, now, he stood, shut out the light, and settled into his bed. His head fell to his pillow; he shut his eyes, and tried to clear his head. The thoughts came rushing in, threatening to overtake him and prevent him from sleep. He pushed them aside, keeping down the thoughts of Luxa and the Underland. Immediately, he fell into what he hoped would be a dreamless sleep…

The nightmares started again. He cringed as he saw Henry's body break apart on the rocks, betrayal hardened into his features. Goldshard's dying shrieks, begging him not to kill her baby. Hamnet and Frill's bodies ravaged by the cutters, Hamnet's last dying wishes echoing in his mind. Thalia's tiny body, overcome by volcanic gases, being buried amongst the nibblers. The baby mice running from the genocidal enemy. The young children narrowly escaping a bloody death at the hands of the rats as their mother's throat was ripped out. The Bane bled. Ares bled. He bled. The Warrior fell. He was always falling, in every nightmare and reality.

Gregor shot up from the bed with a start, covered in a cold sweat. He shivered, chills from the nightmare running down his body. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had fallen asleep without seeing those who had been less fortunate than him. His friends, his enemies, and the innocent who had fallen haunted his every unconscious moment. He was a fourteen year old recovering from PTSD. As crazy as it sounded, almost two years ago, he had been involved in an underground war between humans and rats. And he couldn't tell anyone who hadn't been in the war, otherwise he would be committed. He sometimes wondered why he wasn't.

Gregor had found it was difficult to find things to relate to others when his closest friends up on the surface hadn't felt such devastation that he had. It was hard to talk to anyone besides his family since the Underland had taken him as their warrior. The Underland, a world miles below New York City full of numerous creatures that had evolved to human intelligence and beyond their size, had practically taken his whole family hostage for a year. Everyone came out of it with their own scars. His mother had spent half a year in the Underland hospital, recovering from a plague bred by the Underland humans; his dad had spent years in rat's pit, tortured; Lizzie had spent weeks helping decipher enemy codes; and Boots had spent the majority of the year with him, feeling every effect of the war and following him on every one of the quests revolving around a man called Sandwich.

Oh, there were many prophecies written by Sandwich. Four of them specifically mentioned him, calling him a warrior. Not that Gregor much believed the, although nearly everyone in the Underland believed them and followed his "guidance" blindly. "An excuse to kill each other" Gregor had called it once. He still believed that all his prophecies did was terrorize the subterranean land. But he never could have brought up such things with almost anyone in the Underland, because they followed him and held him with such a high regard.

Gregor stretched, swinging his legs over his bed and onto the floor. He was exhausted, but there was no way he could go back to sleep now. He exited his small room, which was really more of a closet, and walked into the living room, plopping down on the couch and turning on the television, turning it down low so not to wake anyone in the household. Normally he wouldn't bother turning on the television, but he needed a dose of this reality. It was difficult adjusting to humans being against one another, as in the Underland, humans had the option to be on the same side or be dead. If you were exiled or a traitor in the Underland it would be miraculous to survive just a week, much less a lifetime.

The news reported havoc in some third world country with a hopeful smile and everything else just seemed too petty or overly happy. But he left it on, hoping that it would distract him long enough to fall asleep without the disturbances his mind always made. It worked, and the next thing he knew his mother was shaking him awake. By now she was likely used to finding him sleeping in some weird way, or not having slept at all. Everyone in the house, and probably the neighboring apartments, knew about his nightmares. He sat upright, rubbing his eyes to see his mother more clearly.

Grace Andrews had recovered almost completely from her experiences with the plague, although she still had scars from the pustules that had developed with the plague and her immune system was still susceptible to many illnesses. She, like all the members of the Andrews family, had aged prematurely due to their war experiences. Her light brown hair was grey tinged in places, crow's feet surrounding her grey eyes and worry lines decorated her tanned features. She frowned in her motherly way, but kept an even emotion.

"Gregor? Gregor, wake up. You need to eat something before you go to school. Lizzie made some oatmeal for you. I have to go in for an extra shift at the diner, so make sure Boots is at Mrs. Cormaci's and Lizzie gets to school okay. I love you, baby," Grace sputtered in a rush, pulling on a light jacket. She kissed the top of his head.

"Love you too, Mom," Gregor managed to mutter in his half-conscious state. Ever since he had returned from the Underland, his mom had been taking extra shifts all the time to pay for all the medical bills and still take care of the family and make sure they had a house to live in. His dad began to resume his work as a science teacher, but the job didn't pay much and his parents both had relapses on occasion.

"Yeah, the Underland screwed us up pretty bad," Gregor thought. He pushed the thought back, unwilling to dwell on it. Lizzie was in the kitchen, eating her bowl of oatmeal. Gregor came up to her and said "good morning". She smiled and greeted him back.

Of all of his family, Lizzie and Boots were the luckiest. Boots' only _real_ problem was that she was hydrophobic because of all the times that Gregor had been forced to let go of her and she had fallen into the Waterway or a flooded cave. The talking to bugs thing, that they could handle. Ten year old Lizzie actually came back from her trip better than she had been when she left. Ripred, an enormous, sarcastic rat who had a soft spot for Lizzie because she reminded him of one of his dead rat pups, helped her get over her fears and lessened her panic attacks. What was it she had said? "Ripred says if you run from things that scare you they just chase you." It was odd to know that his ten year old sister, who used to be afraid of anything that moved, felt so fond of a seven or so feet tall rat who spoke sarcasm as a second language. One that they hadn't seen in almost two years.

Gregor walked over to the bar, where a bowl of oatmeal awaited him. He didn't bother sitting down and just ate it standing at the counter across from Lizzie. Sometime later, Boots wandered into the kitchen, pleasant as ever in that special way that five year olds had. She pulled on Gregor's pants, demanding to be fed. She plopped herself down on one of the stools and Gregor placed her oatmeal before her, taking in all the time he had with his sisters.

That was one of the few saving graces about living back in New York City. His sisters, his whole family, were safe. No rats with a surprise attack, no army trying to get him to be their warrior or get his sisters to rally allies, no plague, nothing waiting outside of site, waiting to try and kill them. They were all safe up here and their safety and happiness was the only thing that kept him going. If him joking with them, acting happy and keeping them above ground meant they were safe he would do it.

They finished off their breakfast quickly. Lizzie and Gregor disappeared to their rooms to get ready for the day, leaving Boots to play with her plastic animals, waiting to go over to Mrs. Cormaci's. Mrs. Cormaci had become a savior to the Andrews family over the past three years. When Gregor had confided in her the family secret of the Underland, she had done everything she could to help them survive and more. Until Boots started school Mrs. Cormaci watched her when everyone in the house was out. Because it was March and Boots wouldn't start school until August Mrs. Cormaci was a full time babysitter for Boots, and did it very happily.

As soon as they were ready, Gregor walked Lizzie and Boots to Mrs. Cormaci's apartment. She bid them good morning and took Boots inside. Lizzie and Gregor continued outside the apartments to the streets. Lizzie's elementary school was just a few blocks away, and Gregor's middle school was just a few blocks further. Gregor focused all of his energy into getting through the school day without a fight or falling asleep in class. The few times he'd allowed himself to catch some rest in a class he'd woken himself with a horrid shriek that disrupted class and landed him in the office, having to explain the awkward situation to a teacher. What was he supposed to say? "Yeah, I was in a war with giant rats, bats and other big animals, so I have dreams that I fall off a cliff underground." So he kept quiet and earned himself detention.

The first three hours of school were usually the hardest. He was starving by the time he got to his third hour, and exhausted from lack of sleep. After eating some lunch, he was generally more pleasant to be around. His remaining Overland friends, who knew nothing of his time spent underground, chatted fervently and he simply nodded, talking as little as he could. He knew they were getting tired of him, but for some reason they stuck around. After lunch, he had three more hours. Because of his scars, he had opted out of a gym class and just taken an art class. Larry, one of his two closest Overland friends, claimed that it was because he had nearly failed all of his classes the previous year and just wanted and easy grade. Gregor did nothing to halt his claims, because if nothing else, they just kept suspicion off of him.

School passed as it always did, welcomed and slow coming. Gregor headed home with his usual impassive expression. He stopped by Lizzie's school, picking her up so they could walk home together. She kept as quiet as he did, but Gregor couldn't stand to have her so quiet. He wanted her to rant on and on about something Jedidiah, one of her few friends, had told her, or some puzzle she had figured out. He wanted to hear her joyful just to be doing something she used to love. So, uncharacteristically, he broke the silence.

"Solved any new puzzles, lately, Liz?" he asked. It was a lame, almost pitiful question. It was as if he hadn't talked to her in twenty years and was trying to make small talk. She nodded.

"A cryptogram. It wasn't hard, but the key reminded me of the-" Lizzie cut herself short. Gregor glanced down curiously at the girl who was now at least a foot shorter than him, looking small and unsure. "It reminded me of the Code of Claw." She went on to describe the code word and the answer and how she was the first one finished with the puzzle.

This was how their days went. Silence until one prompted the other to rant on and on about something they both knew didn't matter anymore.

They both walked up the flight of stairs to Mrs. Cormaci's apartment, having stopped checking long ago to see if the elevator was operational. Mrs. Cormaci welcomed and ushered them in. Gregor found Boots sitting on Mrs. Cormaci's couch, snacking on a cookie and avidly putting the pieces together in a puzzle, although Gregor noted that some of them didn't match up correctly.

"Hi, you!" Boots exclaimed. Gregor was happy that despite all that had changed, this cute little greeting she had stayed with her throughout the years. She had greeted people with a 'hi, you' since she was two. He smiled and poked her in the rib, returning her greeting.

"Mrs. Cormaci is letting me play with old puzzles. Am I doing good, Gregor?" Boots asked. Gregor looked down at the poorly fitting pieces, but she would never finish the puzzle before moving onto something else, so Gregor decided to humor her.

"Looks good to me, Boots," he commented, patting her on her curly head. He walked over to the kitchen, where Mrs. Cormaci was talking with Lizzie.

"That mother of yours is going to work her fingers to the bone, the amount of extra shifts she does. It's a wonder she even keeps going," their neighbor commented. Gregor couldn't help but agree with her. His mother _was_ a wonder, with all that had threatened to bring her down. In the previous year, she had contracted numerous viruses and a few infections but never stopped working to support the family. Gregor looked up to his mother and the great strength she possessed; there was no way he could have kept going on, having to support a whole family.

Mrs. Cormaci, upon greeting him, gave him a list of chores from his mother he was to complete that day. He took it and glanced down at the list, noting the things he could do at the same time, and set out on them. Eventually, he got to the laundry. Two years ago his mother would have forbade him ever entering the apartment's laundry room, which contained one of the gates to the Underland. But since his last return he'd been given full access to the laundry room, though the grate was sealed shut. He carried down the clothing to the room.

When Gregor got down to the laundry room, unable to see over the basket of laundry, bumped straight into a girl. Immediately his rager sense kicked in, splintering his vision until all he saw was the girl and where the most lethal or devastating blows were. Her stomach, her eyes, her _throat_. But he shook it away. "She's not a threat. SHE'S NOT A THREAT," Gregor commanded himself. "Calm down." Despite the girl's small appearance and the nonthreatening way she carried herself it took Gregor a while to suppress the splintered vision and the urge to attack. But finally the laundry room came back into focus and the girl's vital organs were no longer pointed out to him.

Despite the moment where he was sure he was glaring at her, she noticed nothing. Her clouded blue eyes stared down at the ground, she mumbled an apology, and continued moving toward one of the dryers. Gregor shook his head, getting the buzzing that accompanied the rager sense out of his head. Ripred had told him that it would be difficult to restrain himself in the Overland, and being in a tense state of mind certainly did not help. "The girl only bumped into me… I need to find somewhere I can practice keeping this thing down," he thought. He allowed himself a glance at the girl he had been a moment away from seriously injuring. She had a dainty frame, but not quite weak. She had pale blonde hair that went just passed her neck and was shorter in places, wearing a dark grey jacket and a pair of jeans. She didn't look remarkable or different from any other teenaged girl living in the apartments, but there was something oddly familiar about her.

"Oh, I know where I've seen her before," Gregor suddenly concluded. "She's in my English class. Her name's Lacey, I think." He was unconfident. He hadn't really paid attention in school in several, several months.

Suddenly, the girl spoke up, her voice raspy, sounding unused. "Gregor, right?" Gregor, caught off guard, muttered a simple 'huh?' She cleared her voice loudly. "Your name's Gregor Andrews, right? I think we're in the same class," the girl said, her voice came stronger this time. Gregor turned to see her looking him over.

"Uh, yeah. You're… Lacey?" Gregor felt bad, still being unsure of the girl's first name when she remembered his first and last names. The girl nodded and shoved some of her hair back out of her eyes.

"Lacey Lawrence," she replied. "I started to hang out with your friend Angelina when we were in plays together. I eat lunch with her sometimes," Lacey prompted. Gregor briefly remembered a play that both the girls were in. It seemed like years ago, maybe a whole lifetime ago. Aside from that, Gregor couldn't remember seeing her much anywhere else, maybe once or twice besides class and around the apartments. She had moved in down the hall from him maybe a year before he had fallen to the Underland.

Lacey had finished unloading all of her clean laundry, murmuring a goodbye as she took of down the hall. How long had she been around Angelina, supposedly a good friend of his, and he hadn't noticed? Gregor felt very detached. He knew that he hadn't been a very social person, but to not notice a neighbor right under his nose? For the longest time his family had been all that mattered, still _was_ all that mattered. He felt very alone when they weren't around. At school, when Gregor's mother had forced him out of the house, all those times he yearned for Mareth, for Howard, for Luxa, and for Ares. When his grandmother was sick in the hospital he wanted Vikus there to say the right things, as he always did. Gregor even wanted grumpy old Ripred when he needed someone to remind him that he could control his raging.

Gregor needed something to occupy his mind when his family and Mrs. Cormaci weren't there to be the very center of his attention. If he was going to survive up here, he needed to stop thinking about the year he spent under New York City. Gregor needed someone to speak with when he could speak and wouldn't press him if he couldn't. He needed someone who didn't know the boy who had fallen down a grate to the Underland one hot summer day, someone who wouldn't compare this boy to the former warrior that now occupied his body.


	3. Parties and Peer Pressure

**AN: Sorry it took so long. I had finals and the first week of marching band to get out of the way. Super psyched for colorguard this year! Spam session aside... Right now this is completely unedited. My DocX is being spazzy and it was killing me to get this out, but I sent the chapter to my beta and I'll post her edited version as soon as I get it. The "three very different girls" mentioned in this chapter aren't really important, they're just to dedicate the three girls that kept making me ignore my Personal Financial Literacy homework and keep writing this basically filler chapter. It took a lot to keep me from just pressing on to the Underland, but I just needed to include some more key things before heading on with the plot. This is completely filler and very lame... ENJOY!**

**Thanks to my fantastic beta, Allie, who will surely have my edit soon. Regular disclaimer, etc, etc.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2: Parties and Peer Pressure<strong>

As it turned out, a friendship with Lacey was one of the easiest friendships Gregor could have asked for. While they weren't really any closer than acquaintances, he had had someone to talk to when he felt like it, and when he wanted to shut down, there were no hard feelings or questions asked. Lacey was low maintenance, kind to his sisters, and easy to be around. It was a little sad that he could only be around someone who knew so little about him, but he could hang out with her, and that made his mother happy. If Grace was happy, then Gregor could be happy. In all honesty, he'd given up on his own happiness long ago. Maybe it happened around the same time when he'd accepted his death. Maybe it was when he had seen Ares' lifeless carcass fall from the Bane's mouth. Gregor couldn't remember anymore.

Gregor marveled at how a month of allowing himself an escape did wonders on how his family perceived him. Grace observed this girl as him letting go of the Underland. In her mind, she had made the right decision to bring her family to the surface. Lizzie and their father saw him letting go of his past and what made him who he was. Boots was just happy to have someone else to play with around the apartments. Occasionally, upon the request of Grace and Boots, who adored Lacey, she would come over for a few hours. The two would work on homework or discuss something that required little effort or emotion on his part, something trivial, that he had no emotional attachments to.

On such a day, Lacey was over at his house, watching some show that Gregor wasn't really paying attention to. Lizzie was sitting next to him, solving a puzzle that made absolutely no sense to him, but was obviously way too easy for her. Boots sat on the floor, playing with an old toy that Gregor thought they might've had since Lizzie was five. Lacey sat next to her, intently watching the show with a pen in her mouth. The two older kids had been doing homework, but Gregor eventually gave up when Lizzie and Boots had come in and turned on the television. After a while, he decided to go see if his mother could use his help in the kitchen.

"Why don't you stay in there with Lacey? I'm sure a fifteen year old girl doesn't want to hang out with your sisters," Grace argued, stirring the pasta she was cooking.

"Mom, Lacey doesn't care where she is if she's not home. Plus, she loves Boots," Gregor replied, handing her a strainer. She shot him a look, but he could tell that she agreed with him. In the month they had known each other, he had never been inside her house. He wasn't going to bombard her with questions, since she had never asked him too many, but he had asked why. She only replied that she didn't like being at home.

"Boots certainly loves her. And she's her first real, non-bug friend," his mom agreed halfheartedly. Soon after, Lacey announced that she was going home. Grace suggested that she stay for dinner, but Lacey turned the offer down.

The Andrews family made their way to the small table. It was really only meant for four people, but Gregor set Boots on his knee, where she ate her dinner. They traded small talk, bringing up things they had planned or had to do. Lizzie was spending the night with Abigail, one of her new friends, on Saturday, and Mrs. Cormaci had volunteered to babysit Boots so that their parents could relax some and go see Gregor's grandmother, who was in the hospital.

"Do you have anything planned, Gregor?" Gregor's dad asked him suddenly. He really didn't even think about going anywhere that weekend, but he could tell his parents wanted him to have something to do. He put a mouthful of pasta in his mouth and chewed, raising his index finger. When he swallowed he paused, as if to think.

"What about one of those parties Lacey always goes to, Gregor?" Grace prompted, eyeing him in order to read his face. Gregor neglected to mention to his mother that Lacey went to those parties with people slightly older than them and usually came home a little drunk. He didn't tell anyone or ask her what had happened because it was honestly none of his business. He remembered when Angelina had first blown up on her, screaming at her and making her hangover induced headache much worse.

Gregor swallowed another mouthful of his dinner. "I don't even know if she's going to one this week. I mean, she might decide to stay home." He barely managed to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. It was unlikely that Lacey would stay home, but it was always a possibility.

"It would do her and her mother some good to spend time together. Poor woman must have a heart attack daily. She comes home from work every day and can't find the girl because she's over here or God knows where," the Andrews' matriarch commented. Gregor only nodded. He generally stayed out of that topic, knowing that Lacey preferred it that way. So did Gregor.

But Gregor could tell that it meant a lot to his parents that he went out. He _was_ a fourteen year old boy; he should be the one begging his parents to go to a party, not his parents begging him to go to a party. Lacey wouldn't be his first choice, though. A nice, small get-together, one of Angelina's parties, would be what his preferred choice, but he couldn't remember the last time he'd been invited to one of her small parties, whereas Lacey had invited him last week.

"I'll ask her if she minds if I tag along," Gregor finally decided, rising from his chair and offering it to Boots. He walked over to the sink, where he washed and dried his plate. _Scratch. Scratch. Click! Click! Scratch. Scratch. Scratch._ Confused, Gregor listened as it came again, louder this time. Something told him that this was more intentional than just some rodent scratching around in the walls, but he couldn't make sense of it. It just sounded like scratching to him. He looked over at his family to see if they registered it. For a moment, Grace's brow furrowed and she was very silent. Gregor's father didn't acknowledge it, and his sisters just seemed confused.

After telling his parents good night and heading to his room, Gregor tried to figure it out as he prepared to go to bed. On the one hand, it was possible that it was just a coincidence. Maybe a rodent just happened to scurry past his apartment and make noises that sounded like a message. But he couldn't believe in that sort of coincidence any more. Gregor had to admit that he had hoped for so many months that maybe, just maybe, someone would leave a message for him. Let him know that Regalia was rebuilding, or that Vikus had lived, or informed him of anything. Maybe that was why he was so quick to assume that it was a message, but either way, it just seemed too convenient. Sighing, he climbed into his bed, pulling the covers to his chin.

A few tosses and turns later, he settled in and drifted off to sleep. The usual dreams filled Gregor's thoughts, waking him with a start. He lied back down shortly thereafter and fell asleep again. The day after that proceeded as normal for him. Gregor woke often, but finally got up when his sister called him in for breakfast. He walked with Lizzie to school, dropping her off at hers. He walked to his own school, where he was greeted by Angelina and Larry. The bell rang, dismissing him to English. Gregor found Lacey, head on her desk, sleeping. He shook her awake and her straightened blonde hair fell around her face. She uttered a "huh" before finding Gregor.

"Why did you wake me up?" she asked angrily, pushing her hair out of her eyes to reveal a deepening glare. He shook his head and jumped straight to the point.

"Those parties you go to, is there one this weekend?" Gregor questioned bluntly. She took a minute, nodded, and asked why. "My parents want me out of the house on Saturday. Mom said I should see about going to a party with you."

Lacey took this, knowing how much his mother forced upon him. "Well, I guess we could go to one of Juli's parties. She's always telling me to bring a friend, especially a guy."

"Who's Juli?" Gregor inquired, a little curious.

"Juli's one of the former marching band girls who's in high school this year," she responded, getting a sheet of paper out. The bell rang and Gregor took his seat in front of her. He honestly couldn't believe that he was going out. He couldn't remember the last time he'd gone anywhere but straight home. His mom made him go to Angelina's play, and the whole family had gone to an aquarium last summer, but that was it.

Class passed and he continued on throughout the day half awake, barely paying attention, and anxious to get back home. His friends recognized that he was shut down and didn't talk to him. When they did, he would respond with grunts or mutters. When he picked up Lizzie from her elementary, they spoke little until Lizzie prompted him.

"So, are you going out this weekend, then?" she asked observantly. He nodded and she prompted him for more information. He did exactly what he knew she wanted him to do. Gregor did his best to appear excited to be going to a party that weekend. He tried to sound like he had any other teenager's towards going to a party. He honestly wasn't a very good actor, but it was mildly convincing. At least his sister took it.

The next few days passed in the hazy blur they always did, blending together. Wednesday he had an algebra test, or maybe it was Thursday; Lacey or Angelina ate lunch with him on the same day he took the test or the day after. As average as the week went, the scratching, which persisted every few days, was easily remarkable. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday the scratching appeared, twice on Wednesday. Each time it appeared Gregor became more and more certain that this wasn't just random scratching, it was a message. But he kept his thoughts to himself. He couldn't bear to bring pain to his mother or anyone else in his family.

Saturday afternoon came, and his mother insisted that he look nice. She made him comb out his too-long hair, ironed out a nice, long-sleeved dress shirt for him to wear, and had him wear his dad's dress shoes, which almost fit perfectly due to his many growth spurts. Grace smiled happily as he walked across the hall and knocked on Lacey's door. Gregor couldn't help but roll his eyes to the door.

The door opened and he was face to face with Lacey's mom. Ms. Lawrence was a small woman, much like her daughter. She had the same nearly white blonde hair and bright blue eyes, but her face was aged and worn with time. She wore a band shirt that Gregor was positive Lacey had worn a few days prior. The two girls were about the same size, so Gregor didn't doubt that they probably shared clothing.

"Uh, hi Ms. Lawrence," Gregor greeted awkwardly. He wasn't exactly sure what the older woman thought of him and that made him rather cautious around her. Heck, he wasn't even sure what Lacey thought of him.

"Come on in, Gregor," Ms. Lawrence told him. He nodded and walked inside. It was the first time he had been inside Lacey's apartment. There was a tiny kitchen directly to his left, and a small living room in front of him. To his right was a half open door that leads to what he thought might be the master bedroom. He followed her to the kitchen table, where she sat him down at one of the three chairs.

"Sit tight, I'm going to get Lacey," Ms. Lawrence told him a little dazedly. Gregor thought she must've been sleeping, although the alternatives didn't seem so far off. He vaguely wondered if Lacey got her drinking habit from her mother. As if she read his mind, Lacey's mom took a swig of an unfamiliar can as she headed to the back room to get the aforementioned girl.

Gregor knew that some adults drank fairly often. He had never seen his own parents drinking beer, but at his aunt's wedding his parents had drank wine. He couldn't say that he thought highly of those who drown their sorrows in a bottle of alcohol. Lacey and her mother seemed to be prime examples of that, and sometimes Gregor couldn't stand to be around her because of it.

Lacey rounded the corner, flanked by Ms. Lawrence. She wore a black tank top and dark grey skinny jeans. It made Gregor feel grossly overdressed. Apparently Lacey thought so too. She gave a chuckle and ruffled his dark hair.

"Gregor, Gregor, Gregor. You're such a dork!" she remarked. Gregor glared at her and smoothed his hair back down. Ms. Lawrence went back to watching television and drinking and the two teens left. As they walked down the stairs and out the door, Gregor asked her some basic questions. Where is it? On the north side. What kind of people would be there? Mostly high school freshman and sophomores. Would there be any drinking? Don't embarrass me.

"'Don't embarrass me'?" Gregor questioned incredulously. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, don't embarrass me. If you hang on to my hand all day and ask me questions that's a little embarrassing," Lacey replied. Gregor took that as his queue to shut up.

They got there within ten minutes of walking. Gregor recognized the building as one of the nicer ones in that section of town. Lacey showed him up to the fifth floor and down the hall to an apartment with loud music. There were quite a lot of people and, from what he could tell, no parents. Before Gregor could ask her anything, Lacey was gone. He followed her over to a group of three very different girls.

The first was a blonde girl with a flowery tank top and geeky glasses. In her hands were a beer bottle and a hand of cards. Next to her was a pale, redhead girl in a dark cardigan, also holding cards, but instead of a beer bottle it was some liquor that Gregor wasn't sure about. Next to them was someone who didn't look like she belonged, someone who looked more like she would fit in with Lacey. She had dark brown hair and piercings on her nose, lip, and ears, and a dark "Central Park East High School Band" jacket with her name, _Juli_, printed on it. She too held cards and a beer.

Lacey greeted these girls with a smile and some choice words, and they returned the greeting. She went on to introduce Gregor, although he was only barely paying attention. Juli greeted him enthusiastically, gesturing wildly around her house and offering him a spot in her card game. He declined.

"Suit yourself," she stated. "The geek is Mindy and the ginger is Allyson. They won't bite, but they might flirt." Gregor just blinked at her. With her introduction over, he sullenly walked over and sat down on a couch in the corner. And he waited. He wasn't sure what he was waiting for. Maybe he was waiting on the end of his "party night". Maybe he was waiting for someone to talk to him. If so, his wait was soon over.

"Hey, Gregor," Lacey said, walking up to him with two cans. "Want a beer?" She offered him the can with an impossibly tiny hand. He looked at that picture, thinking about how sick it was that a young teenage girl like Lacey held a can of beer out to him, an even younger teenager. And how those three girls at the table, who did this every weekend, how that was sick.

Gregor thought of how he had thought low of all the people who used alcohol as an escape. Maybe it wasn't so awful. Maybe he _needed_ this escape… But then he thought of his mother, sitting at home, completely unaware. He couldn't do that to her, not when his family was his life…

"No, thanks Lacey," Gregor answered. Somewhere off to the side he thought he heard a very drunken Mindy scream "take the beer".

"Suit yourself," Lacey replied, downing hers. She walked off back to the three girls, where the redhead, Allyson, he thought, was screaming at Juli and taking the money to her side of the table.

Gregor sat quietly as the party moved around him. He thought about how meaningless this was. These people wouldn't last two seconds in the real world, much less the Underland. If they knew about the world underneath their feet and the wars that tore it apart, who knows how they would react.

The four girls continued their card game. Allyson seemed to be winning the most, so Juli accused her of cheating. Mindy and Lacey talked loudly, slurring their words. When Allyson had lunged over the table at Juli, who had taken some of the money Allyson had won, Mindy had jumped up and pulled her back down. Juli freaked out and hid behind Lacey, who seemed to be out of it.

Eventually people began to leave. A slightly drunken Lacey came up and asked him to walk her home. He nodded and walked with her out of the apartments and back towards their own. They had gotten passed Central Park when Lacey insisted that they take a shortcut through a series of alleys. Gregor knew it wasn't a very good idea, but had no motivation to argue. He clicked quietly, illuminating the alleyway. Lacey didn't seem to notice. He noted that his echolocation was a little rusty and decided to work on it.

They were almost out of the alleys when Gregor heard a _click!_ sound. He looked next to him at Lacey, whose cloudy blue eyes widened and filled with sobriety. She stiffened. Gregor looked behind her, where he saw a tall man, about his thirties, holding a gun to Lacey's back.

"You know the drill," he told them monotonously.

* * *

><p><strong>Don't you just hate cliffhangers? :{D I'm evil.<strong>

**To answer Gregor and Luxa's question, yes, there will be Gluxa. But, as I stated, much less than in the original version of this fanfic. I really want this to be a well-rounded fic. If you have an account, I can answer any other questions you might have in PM. Feel free to ask.**

**Looking around at some of the other fanfics reviews, I noticed something. Some reviews involve yelling and cursing. Could you refrain from that in any reviews you post? I loath, absolutely loath being yelled at. Since I was little it's always given me panic attacks. Thanks.**


	4. A Quick Update To Prove I Am Alive

Sorry for the inactivity for roughly two years... It's been pretty hard to leave writing, but It's been a hard two years.

For one, my USB drive malfunctioned about ten chapters into this fic, and I haven't been able to recover it (still not giving up, two years later). A myriad of personal problems, health issues, and family being family has made life rather difficult, but I'm back. I will start again, even if I have to pull this fic out of a grave and rewrite.

Sorry once again,

She Who Twirls Flags,

AKA the one and only Taylor the Overlander


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